Pile fabric and yarn and method of making



A. G. FROMUTH.

PILE FABRIC AND YARN AND METHOD OF MAKING. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18.1915.

1,339,753. Patented May 11, 1920.

INVENTON Br W 5550M! UNITED STATES PATENT orrion.

AUGUST G. FROMUTH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ALVACARPET & RUG GQMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

PILE FABRIC AND YARN AND METHOD OF MAKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed September 18, 1915. Serial No. 51,506.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST G. FROMUTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PileFabric and Yarn and Methods of Making, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings,forming part thereof.

My invention relates to the making of pile fabrics containingparti-colored yarns, such for example as tapestry and velvet carpets,made up either in long strips of standard width or in rugs. Theparti-colored printed yarns woven into such fabrics are commonly printedon drums by means of color pulleys, a large number of threads or yarnsbe ing carried by the drum and each thread or yarn on the drum beingsimilarly printed so that the color is applied in longitudinal stripesthe drum producing variously colored portions in the yarn; andI preferto carry out myinvention by thus printing the yarns on a drum.

An important object of my invention is to obtain fine effects, ordelicacy of treatment in the design, located wherever de sired in thefabric, as distinguished from the coar er effects or less delicatetreatment appearing in other parts of the design and fabric. Otherobjects of my invention are economy of time, labor and dyestuffs. Otherobjects and advantages of my invention will hereinafter appear.

Heretoforc these yarns for tapestry or velvet carpet fabrics commonlyhave been printed with color pulleys of uniform and considerable widthor in some instances where colors have run very freely, slightlynarrower color pulleys have been used for such freely running colors, soasto produce upon the yarn as wound upon the drum stripes of equal andconsiderable width. Commonly in practice each of these stripes isslightly wider than the width required to produce a single pile-formingloop or tuft for each of the threads of the yarn, when such printed yarnis woven intoa pile fabric, and a usual practice has been to make aboutfive printed stripes on the yarn correspond to about eight pile-formingloops or tufts in the fabric. So far as I am informed it has notheretofore been deemed possible to produce fine effects by theemloyinent of narrow color pulleys, and such efiects have not been soproduced. It has also heretofore been deemed necessary to print theentire surface of the yarn either in colors or in paste. At places whereuncolored portions or spaces of yarn were desired, according to thepattern to be produced in the fabric, the printing has been done with astarchy paste or the like instead of colors, the printing in pastebeingto prevent the running or spreading of the colors into the parts of theyarns where no color was desired.

I have discovered that narrow sharply defined stripes of color may beproduced wherever desired in the length of the yarn, and that thesenarrow sharply defined stripes of color may be located injuxtaposition'to uncolored parts of the yarn, so that, for example, inthe printing of yarns wherein the standard width of the stripe of colorpro duced is one-half an inch, narrow stripes of color, say one-eighthof an inch wide may be printed, located centrally of uncolored portionsone-half an inch wide, thus producing within the width of one-half aninch an d by the printing of a single narrow stripe the threecontrasting stripes in part at least, located for each thread in asingle pileforiiing loop or tuft, and comprising first uncolored yarn,second the printed color, and third the uncolored yarn. When the yarnsare woven a fine effect can be produced in which one of the colors ismingled with uncolored. yarn. Any one or more of the colors in anydesignmay be thus similarly broken up.

My invention is carried out simply by applying the color with narrow andproperly located color pulleys in the chosen parts of the pattern wherethe finer effects are to be produced. In carrying out my invention theprinting of the yarns is done by means of any suitable or usualyarn-printing machine, it being only necessary to provide color pulleysof the required narrow width and properly located to print at thedesired locations and to leave unprinted the desired uncolored stripesand to use them in the proper pattern relation with v the usual widercolor pulleys so that the desired fine effects produced by my inventionwill be introduced in the pattern at the places desired.

I shall now more particularly describe my invention with reference tothe accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point out my invention inclaims.

Figure 1 illustrates a tapestry or velvet rug or carpet pattern of whichthe fabric is to be woven in accordance with my invention. t

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation illustrating the manner in whichthe pile forming warp yarns are printed, and shows a plurality ofprinted yarns corresponding to a section taken on a plane indicated bythe line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the color pulleys employed for printing thethreads or yarns illustrated in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 is shown a small portion only of simple three-color design asit would appear in the woven fabric, the three colors employed beingindicated as black, green and red, the green and red parts of thepattern being shown in the illustrated geometrical design as separatedfrom each other by theblack parts of the pattern. A portion ofone of theblack parts of the pattern, in the form of a central swastika 1, isshown as broken up into mottled or fiecked black and white, inaccordance with and by the employment of my invention.

As is well understood in the art of tapestry weaving, any one of thepile-forming warp threads will present the pattern in elongated formalong that particular line. In Fig. 2, each of the printed threa is oryarns 2 presents, in elongated form, the part of the pattern appearingon the line 22 of Fig. 1. It is to be noted, of this particular pattern,that the greater part of the length of the yarns 2 is printed with theusual wide color pulleys 3, 4: and 5, shown in Fig. 3, to producecorrespondingly wide and contiguous black, red and green stripes 6, 7and 8, as appears in Fig. 2. However, the central swastika 1 is made tostand out by the printing of the yarns 2 with a narrow color pulley 9(Fig. which is applied to the yarns 2 so as to produce narrow colorstripes 10 of black in spaced relation and so located as to leaveunprinted the desired uncolored stripes 11 which appear transversely ofthe yarns in Fig. 2, and the narrow black color pulley 9 being soapplied as to print the single narrow black stripe 10 in the middle of aspace of the same width. as each of those spaces that is fully printedby each of the usual wide color pulleys 3, 4 and 5, as is clearlyevident from Fig. 2.

The yarns 2 in Fig. 2, although shown in diagram and out of proportion,for purposes of illustration, may be considered as representing aflattening out or development of the surface of a drum upon which theseyarns are wound in the usual way, it being understood that the colorsmay be applied in the usual way, one stripe successively after another,by the successive use of the required. color pulleys in the order inwhich the suc cessive stripes are shown as arranged in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. It is to be noted that a narrow color pulley, such, forexample, as the narrow color pulley 9, for printing the narrow blackstripes l0, occupies the same amount of space on the drum as does eachof the usual wide color pulleys 3, 4c and 5, and that a narrow colorpulley, such as the pulley 9, produces three stripes at one printing,one stripe of color 10 and two unprinted stripes 11 of the natural yarncolor and separated by the narrow printed stripe 10, as most clearlyappears near the right side in Fig. 2.

As an example a drum may be 31.25 feet or 375 inches in circumference,and the ratchet Wheel which determines the extent of each. movement ofthis drum may have 720 teeth. This is known as a 720 index drum. Thetravel of the circumference of the drum or of the yarn wound thereon foreach actuation of the drum would be approximately one-half an inch, andunder heretofore existingpractice each pulley, such as one of the usualwide pulleys 3, 4: and 5 illustrated in Fig. 3, would be about onehalfan inch wide so that the successive stripes of color or starch appliedto the yarn on the drum would be contiguous, as appears in Fig. 2 in thestripes 6, 7 and 8 of color printed with the usual wide color pulleys 3,at and 5. According to my invention, at any point of the pattern atwhich a fine efiect is to be produced, a pulley of narrow width, sayone-eighth of an inch, such as the narrow pulley 9 shown in Fig. 3,would be used and it would be so located as to apply the narrow stripeof color at the desired portion of the approximately half-inch width ofthe circumference of the yarn wound upon the drum which would be broughtinto juxtaposition to the color pulley at the time of the application ofthis narrow stripe of color. as will be clear by a comparison of Figs. 2and 3 of the drawings. Thus the fineness of the effect would correspondto that attainable with a drum having four times the number of teeth ora 2880 index drum with the same number of operations as in the coarser720 index, and with all the advantages of using the coarser index drumin the solid colored portions of the yarn.

My invention may also be used to produce a Moresque or mottled effect.This effect has heretofore been produced by twisting two or threedifferently colored threads to gether, which involves the additionaloperation of producing these twisted threads and which necessarilyrequires that these twisted threads shall extend throughout the fulllength of the fabric woven. According to my invention the Moresqueeffect may be obtained Wherever it is desired, and solid colored orother effects obtained wherever the Moresque effect is not desiredthroughout the length of the fabric, by applying the color with narrowcolor pulleys where the Moresque effect is desired, and using full widthcolor pulleys for other parts of the fabric. For example, in weavingrugs, the border portions may have solid colors across the fabrics, orboth solid and Moresque portions, and the body may be partially orwholly in Moresque effect. My invention permits the juxtaposition ofsolid colors and Moresque effects wherever desired, combined in anydesired manner, making possible very fine variations of designthroughout the fabric, such as have here tofore been impossible ofattainment.

Many other fine new and beautiful effects may be produced in carryingout my invention. For example, dots of the natural yarn color may besprinkled wherever desired throughout the body or border on throughoutboth. Furthermore, in printing the yarns for the vital parts of thedesign. narrow color pulleys can be employed leaving narrow stripes ofthe natural yarn color, giving a fine effect, and in the other parts ofthe design the wide color pulleys can be used. In this way I have foundI can produce on a 720 index drum the effect given by a 2880 index drum,the rug or other fabricbeing just as fine in appearance and having thecolors filled in more evenly and fuller.

Another advantage of my invention is that it produces different tintsand shades of color with different sized pulleys, such as dark red,medium red, light red. A smaller stripe of color and a larger stripe ofuncolored surface makes a lighter efiect. Instead of having a lightercolor placed solidly over the surface, I place the same color over aportion of the surface and leave the other portion uncolored, whichgives it a lighter, a sharper, a richer and a more sparkling efi'ect,2'. a, it produces practically the same relative variety as a lightershade of color, but adds the variation and sparkle produced by thenarrow lines produced by narrow pulleys.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in my invention asshown in the accompanying drawings and above particularly describedwithin the principle and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. The method of making pile fabrics containing printed yarns whichconsists in printing on the pile-forming yarns stripes of color andleaving thereon contiguous unprinted stripes, the stripes of'one kind ofric having both colored and uncolored portions 'of the yarns displayedin individual pile-forming loops or tufts.

2. The method of making pile fabrics containing printed yarns whichconsists in printing on the pile-forming yarns stripes of color narrowerthan the width required for producing a pile-forming loop orcorresponding tuft in the pile fabric, leaving unprinted stripescontiguous to such printed stripes, and then weaving such yarns to forma pile fabric having both colored and uncolored portions of the yarnsdisplayed in individual pile-forming loops or tufts.

3. The method of making pile fabrics containing printed yarns whichconsists in printing on the pile-forming yarns stripes of color eachseparating two unprinted stripes and of a width and arrangement so thatany contiguous two of said stripes taken together will be narrower thanthe width required for producing a pile-forming loop or correspondingtuft in the pile fabric, and then weaving such yarns to form a pilefabric, whereby one colored and two uncolored portions of such yarns maybe displayed in individual pile-forming loops or tufts in such fabric.

4. The method of making pile fabrics containing printed yarns whichconsists in printing on parts of the pile-forming yarns contiguousstripes of color each at least of a width required for producing apile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric, on otherparts of the same yarns printing and leaving unprinted contiguouscolored and uncolored stripes of which the stripes of one kind of saidstripes are narrower than the width required for producing apile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric, and thenweaving such yarns to form a pile fabric having in selected parts of thefabric fully colored portions of said pile-forming yarns displayed inindividual pile-forming loops or tufts and having in other selectedparts of the fabric both colored and uncolored portions of such yarnsdisplayed in individual pile-forming loops or tufts.

5. A pile fabric comprising in its weave a pile-forming yarn havingcontiguous printed and unprinted portions one said kind of which arenarrower than the width required for producing a pile-forming loop orcorresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

6. A pile fabric comprising in its weave a pile-forming yarn havingcontiguous printed and unprinted portions, and of which said printedportions of the yarn are narrower than the width required for producinga pile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

7. A pile fabric comprising in its weave a pile-forming yarn having oneprinted portion and two unprinted portions contiguous to and separatedby said printed portion, and any contiguous two of said portions takentogether being narrower than the width required for producing apile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric, whereby onecolored and two uncolored portions of said pile-forming yarn may beexposed in an individual pile-forming loop or tuft of the pile fabric.

8. A pile fabric comprising in its weave a pile-forming yarn having inchosen parts thereof contiguous printed portions each at least of awidth required for producing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuftin the pile fabric, and having in other chosen parts thereof contiguousprinted and unprinted portions one said kind of which narrower than thewidth required for producing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuftin the pile fabric, whereby said plle fabric in selected parts thereofmay have fully colored portions of said pilcforming yarn exposed inindividual pileforming loops or tufts and in other selected partsthereof may have both colored and'uncolored portions of saidpile-forming yarn exposed in individual pile-forn'iing loops or tufts.

9. The method of producing figuring or pattern-forming warp yarns formaking pile fabrics containing printed yarns, which consists in printingon the pile-forming yarns stripes of color and leaving thereoncontiguous unprinted stripes, the stripes of one kind of said stripesbeing narrower than the width required for producing a pile forming loopor corresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

10. The method of producing figuring or pattern-forming warp yarns formaking pile fabrics containing printed yarns, which consists in printingon the pileforming yarns stripes of color narrower than the widthrequired for producing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in thepile fabric, and leaving unprinted stripes contiguous to such printedstripes.

11. The method of producing figuring or or pattern-forming warp yarnsfor making pile fabrics containing printed yarns, which consists inprinting on the pile-forming yarns stripes of color each separating twounprinted stripes and of a width and ar rangement so that any contiguoustwo of said stripes taken together will be narrower than the widthrequired for producing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in thepile fabric.

12. The method of producing figuring or pattern-forming warp yarns formaking pile fabrics containing printed yarns, which ronsists in printingon parts of the pile-forming yarns contiguous stripes of color each atleast of a width required for producing a piie-forniing loop or co'rresponding tuft in the pile fabric, and on other parts of the sameyarns printing and leaving unprinted contiguous colored and uncoloredstripes of which the stripes of one kind of said stripes are narrowerthan the width required for producing a pile-forming loop orcorresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

13. A pile-forming yarn having contiguous printed and unprinted portionsone said kind of which are narrower than the width required forproducing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

1a. A pile-forming yarn having contiguous printed and unprintedportions, and of which said printed portions of the yarn are narrowerthan the width required for producing a pile-forming loop orcorresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

15. A pile-forming yarn having one printed portion and two unprintedportions contiguous to and separated by said printed portion, and anycontiguous two of said por tions taken together being narrower than thewidth required for producing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuftin the pile fabric.

16. A pile-forming yarn having in chosen parts thereof contiguousprinted portions each at least of a width required for producing apile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric, and havingin other chosen parts thereof contiguous printed and unprinted portionsone said kind of which are narrower than the width required forproducing a pile-forming loop or corresponding tuft in the pile fabric.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my gnature.

AUGUST G. FROMUTH.

